I have all these opinions bumping around my head, figured I get them out and hopefully help some people in their choice of books. If you have any questions as to where and how I get these books, please don't hesitate to ask.

A Voice In The Wind

Title: A Voice In The Wind
Series: Mark Of The Lion
Publisher: Tyndale House
Published: September 21, 2012
Pages: 544
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Hadassah’s life has changed forever. Her family is dead and she is now a slave girl to the Valerian household. She now finds herself under fire for not only her race but her faith as well. Hadassah now has to struggle with obeying her master and following her faith and obeying God’s calling, even if it costs her everything. Even if it costs her a life with the handsome son of her master.

Marcus’s life has always involved chasing pleasure and he sees no reason why it’s wrong. When he meets the bony plain looking Jewish girl he thinks his parents are insane to take her. Until he starts to get to know her and see the beauty within. His former life now has little temptation and he wants nothing more than his sister’s little Jew. If only she would let him.

While their attraction grows, Hadassah’s master, Julia, grows more debased looking for the pleasure she tries to find in all the wrong places. Hadassah feels a love for her master but it’s the love for her sister’s brother Marcus that scares her. She can’t have a life with him if he scorns her faith and she feels like a failure because she can’t show him or Julia that God is so much more than what they’re looking for.

Will Julia turn to God or will she continue to live a lifestyle that will slowly kill her? Will Hadassah show Marcus who God is or will Marcus scorn her for her efforts? Can Hadassah and Marcus have a life together despite their differences or will those differences tear them apart? Will Hadassah’s fear overcome her faith or will she stand firm in the one area she’s scared most to talk about?
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I had no idea what to expect with this book, but I can tell you that this is nothing at all what I would’ve expected. If you’re looking for a light-hearted romance novel with a perfect ending, skip this novel completely. If you want a gritty, realistic novel with a heart-tugging ending, then pick this one up. This book tugged at my heart and I found myself with years in my eyes on quite a few occasions. Also, if you want a fast-paced book, move along, unfortunately, this book can get a little boring at some parts. But the overall story is worth the slow parts.

This author gave a perfect look at Rome in the first century and you can see the parallels that we are taking in the way we live our life, though it wasn’t intentional. She described the lifestyle without too much drama or sugar coating it and made it extremely realistic. I learned quite a bit from this book about Rome and I always love to learn something new from a book, particularly from this timeline.

Like I said, if your looking for a romance with a perfect ending you will be sorely disappointed in this novel. The romance in this novel is more Marcus wanting her and Hadassah denying him. You pretty much spend the whole book hoping that it works out but kind of knowing that it probably won’t at least not in this book. Despite that feeling, I actually liked this ending, it made the book more emotionally involving.

The ending of this story will definitely drag you through an emotional roller coaster. Despite the fact that the ending isn’t picturesque and can be considered terrible because it’s the opposite of what you want, I loved it. I think it secured the author’s point more solidly and completely changes your view of everything. This book, including the ending changed me and my view of my faith.

This author had a huge hit with this book. It’s evident to me why over two million people have read and loved this book, because I’m one of them. This book makes your view shift and takes you into the view of the persecuted. It takes you on a journey that you hoped you’d never have to go on. I fully intend to get my hands on the other two books in this series, because you can’t just stop after the first book. I’m now a huge fan of this author.

Overall, a great look into the life a Jewish Christian in Rome, can be considered horrifying with some of the descriptions, though I don’t think it was intended to horrify just solidify the author’s point. I don’t recommend this for little kids, but adults will probably love this book. I give this this book a four and a half out of five.

*I received a complimentary copy of this book from Tyndale in exchange for this review. All opinions expressed are my own.*